<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>PING/ACK by harpydora</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28693428">PING/ACK</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/harpydora/pseuds/harpydora'>harpydora</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Room Where It Happened (Podcast)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Canon Compliant, Canon-Typical Violence, Gen, Hurt No Comfort, Season: The Bleed, Whump</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 07:54:52</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,228</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28693428</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/harpydora/pseuds/harpydora</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>The blast scrambled all of WINTER's external sensors and connections, leaving them effectively cut off from reality for a period of time that felt indeterminate but their internal system clock states was only for 11.3568 seconds. The exact length of time it takes to reboot, with an added 6.2229 seconds due, presumably, to the interference from the explosion.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Owain Evans &amp; WINTER Unit No. 619Ω</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Secret Druids of the Stones 2020 (A Standing Stones Fanwork Exchange)</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>PING/ACK</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Happy Secret Druids!! Because of who I am as a person, the prompt I chose was: "Owain &amp; WINTER (Owain/WINTER/Pound okay too) "I know you're in there somewhere” / Whump (I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream optional); EXCLUDE: total hopelessness/sexual content; no sexual content; other mature/explicit content (e.g. violence) okay"</p>
<p>Anyway, enjoy some nebulously canon-compliant whump with WINTER and Owain!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>The blast scrambled all of WINTER's external sensors and connections, leaving them effectively cut off from reality for a period of time that felt indeterminate but their internal system clock states was only for 11.3568 seconds. The exact length of time it takes to reboot, with an added 6.2229 seconds due, presumably, to the interference from the explosion. Their systems come back online, with their connection to the 'net being the first thing to return, followed by their optical sensors, temperature, pressure, and finally audio.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The scene of the explosion is eerily silent. Rubble has fallen everywhere, but everything is still and quiet as a tomb. The metaphor pops into WINTER's neural network out of nowhere, and it's hard for them to brush it off. This is </span>
  <em>
    <span>not</span>
  </em>
  <span> a tomb. This is the site of an attack from on of the Wyvern's enemies.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It is not a tomb.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>They dial the sensitivity of their optical and auditory sensors as high as they'll go. They were with Owain in a small land vehicle when the bomb exploded. The vehicle is about forty feet away, tipped on its side and almost resting on its roof. Its front end is twisted and charred from the heat, but the passenger cabin appears largely intact. How WINTER ended up outside it is a mystery, lost to the time where none of their systems were online, but it looked like the chances that Owain was still inside were high.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Their motor functions, thankfully, seem to be fine, and they are able to pick their way through the rubble over to the vehicle. Upon closer inspection, they can see the hole in the windshield they'd been tossed through, the safety mechanisms on their side of the cabin having failed. The ones on the other side appear to have functioned correctly, but that means they obstruct WINTER's view of the driver's seat.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Owain!" WINTER tries to call out, but their speaker must have been damaged in the explosion and ensuing impact with the ground. All that comes out is a high-pitched, muffled whine that has nothing in common with speech at all. Frustrated, they instead try to pry the door of the vehicle open to get at Owain.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It won't budge. They try again, but the result is the same. They have enough strength to do their duties as a mechanic but evidently were not built for rescue missions.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>If only Pound were here. </span>
  <em>
    <span>He'd</span>
  </em>
  <span> be able to move this stupid door. They discard this train of thought, though. There's no point in imagining what Pound might do because he's not </span>
  <em>
    <span>here,</span>
  </em>
  <span> and WINTER wouldn't wish the possibility of harm on him besides.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It takes 22.2246 seconds for WINTER to analyze their options. They could continue to work at the door, but that would waste precious time. Owain </span>
  <em>
    <span>had</span>
  </em>
  <span> to be in there, and the fact that WINTER couldn't pick up anything meant they could be unconscious.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Or worse.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>They refuse to spend their valuable processing cycles calculating what the worse options are.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Instead, WINTER turns their efforts towards widening the hole in the windshield they must have been thrown through.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Their hands, thankfully, had been engineered for working with very heavy equipment, so tearing away a little bit if glass doesn't come close to damaging any of their extremities. Once they're able to get access to Owain's side of the passenger cabin, they halt.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Owain is hanging from the three-point harness, half slumped against the steering wheel, and their hair is soaked slick with blood from a gash on their scalp (maybe from impact with something?). One side of their face is bruised and swollen, and they are barely breathing.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>WINTER has over 5,280 different libraries stored in their memory, most of which revolve around servicing different machines and ship parts.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Not one of them involves instructions on how to service damaged humans.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>They've observed Kerry work plenty of times, but most of that involved a controlled environment either on the Wyvern or wherever they've been docked. Maybe a little of first aid when doing a job, but nothing remotely like these conditions. If only Kerry were here…</span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>That's</span>
  </em>
  <span> something. They have an active 'net connection, and Kerry and Molly aren't that far from where Owain and WINTER were headed. Surely one of them can provide the aid Owain needs… right?</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Owain shifts, makes a pain noise, and stills. They do not wake up.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>WINTER engages their communication protocols, an action that takes exactly .0554 seconds. The transmission takes longer. It begins with a tightly bundled packet of data that the Wyvern can interpret, giving coordinates and a run-down of the situation. That occupies another .0032 seconds.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The second part is much longer still: a plain-text list of the information that WINTER passed to the Wyvern, read out in their machine voice. This they send to Molly and Kerry directly. It takes a further 48.2290 seconds from Owain.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>They wait another 17.8963 seconds for an ACK response from the Wyvern or Molly's and Kerry's communicators, but none comes.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>They are on their own.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Their auditory sensors pick up a tinny noise, and it takes them 1.4894 seconds to recognize it as their own broken vocal synthesizer. They cut power to the speaker as soon as the realization hits.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>WINTER can't be frantic. Fear and anxiety are chemical reactions caused by hormones rushing through a circulatory system that they do not possess. But their processors are overclocked as they try to determine their next course of action.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>At a loss, all WINTER can think to do is cradle Owain's face between their hands as gently as they can. They cannot speak to reassure their friend, but maybe there's an outside chance that their touch will be useful.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Owain's face twitches, their brow furrowing. A pained noise breaks the silence, but their eyes do not open.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Gingerly, WINTER moves their fingers. They have little knowledge about human anatomy, but they've absorbed enough from Kerry to know that head injuries are dangerous. They wipe away some of the blood with the softest touch they can manage. The bleeding is sluggish and it makes the gash on Owain's scalp look worse than it actually is. Otherwise, there do not appear to be any other major lacerations. Owain's face is swollen and bruising in places, but otherwise seems normal.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Small favors, but WINTER's sensors won't be turned away from Owain until Kerry (or some other medical professional) can examine their friend.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>They try to speak again, but can only make a squeak that's high-enough pitched that a human may not even be able to hear.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Frustration is also the product of an interplay of hormones. Hormones that WINTER also does not possess.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>8.5789 minutes pass. Their hands still cradle Owain's head. Owain's face is still screwed up in a pained expression. The only thought occupying WINTER's neural circuitry is a simple one, repeated over and over and over (approximately 257 times during the course of the 8.5789 minutes): </span>
  <em>
    <span>please be okay.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>At the 8.5792 minute mark, WINTER's network connection comes to life. A weak ACK packet, followed by a crackly message with Molly's communicator ID attached. "We're on our way."</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>WINTER almost forgets to send an ACK packet of their own while they continue repeating to themself, "Please be okay."</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
</body>
</html>